Jerusalem
The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom has been operating in Israel since 1982 and began its Palestinian work in 1994. With an Israeli-Palestinian team in a joint office in Jerusalem the foundation aims to be a platform of innovation for enhancing freedom in society, strengthening dialogue with the European Union and contributing to the advancement of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. Together with our partners, we want to strengthen liberal values like the rule of law, respect of human dignity with civil and human rights, market economy principles and entrepreneurship and a democratic culture of tolerance and pluralism.
News
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"We are witnessing the birth of a new liberal camp in Israel"
On 18 June 2023 an important event marked the 75th birthday of Israel and the 40th birthday of the FNF office in Jerusalem, celebrating "40 years of liberal dialogue". Over 100 liberal partners and friends from Israel and the Palestinian territories gathered at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation to listen to the speeches of Tzipi Livni, former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Deputy-Chair of FNF and former German Minister of Justice, and Steffen Seibert, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany in Israel.
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Request for Proposal: Policy Paper on Combating Disinformation
The threats posed by disinformation are growing. In the political and social debate, the topic is slowly getting the attention it needs to protect open societies and not let it fuel conflicts even more. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine made clear what effects years of disinformation campaigns can have on societies. It also shows how inadequately prepared, for example, social media operators are and how difficult state responses to this problem can be.
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IFLRY Leadership Meets Israeli and Palestinian Liberal Activists
Last week we had the pleasure to host the leadership of IFLRY (International Federation of Liberal Youth) for a week of discussions and liberal dialogue, together with our local Israeli and Palestinian partners.
We met with Lihi Shmueli from our partner Israel Hofsheet and with Arik Segal who manages our ME 2.0 network. We met the Yesh Atid Youth and had a lively discussion on liberal traditional thought, and how it can be adapted for the 21st century. -
“I Believe That Our Responsibility is to Keep the Road for Peace Open”
Tzipi Livni, former Vice Prime Minister of Israel, is one of the fiercest critics against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reform. As a proponent of liberal democracy and a two-state solution, she stresses the importance of protecting civil liberties and social justice. In an interview with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, she talks about the challenges that the nationalist trend and religious parties pose for a pluralistic society.
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Understanding Israel’s Constitutional Nightmare
Over the last few years, Israeli politics have undergone a deep polarization. Parties have been cornered into two opposing blocks, with support for Netanyahu as the fault line. His detractors see him as a corrupt leader who seeks to cling onto power, even if it means undermining liberal democracy in Israel. His supporters accuse the opposition of pushing extremists to the forefront of the political landscape by refusing to enter into a coalition with Netanyahu.
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The Reforming of Netanyahu’s Israel
The Israeli public voted on November 1, for the fifth time in three years for two alternative governments. This time, Netanyahu’s bloc managed to get 64 out of the Knesset’s 120 seats, finally gaining the majority he needed to form a government. Now with a clear majority for his camp, Netanyahu was given the complicated task of forming a government. In the last few months, it became quite clear that these elections will be decided by which bloc has a higher voter turnout, and if they manage to save the smaller parties from disappearing, and thus wasting votes
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Israeli Government Loses Majority: One Final Crack in an Already Fragile Coalition?
On June 13, 2021, the current Israeli government was formed in hopes of ending a political crisis that had dragged Israel through four national elections in two years. After less than a year, this government has lost its slim majority of 61 of the 120 seats in parliament and has shrunk to 60 seats. This means that the coalition's ability to pass legislation has weakened.
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Re-examining Govenment Policies Toward Minorities in Israel
Together with our partners the Forum for Liberal Thinking and the Liberal Druze Association, we organized this Friday a discussion on government policies towards minorities in Israel. The event took place in Daliyat Al Carmel, the biggest Druze town in Israel close to Haifa, and included a mixed audience of Jews, Druze and of other communities. Eran Zinger, well-known journalist (Kan 11) and expert in Arab affairs, moderated the session in his usual...
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Request for Proposal: Organization of Activities for "Israel’s Liberal Voice"
The Jerusalem office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF Jerusalem) is looking for a service provider delivering the services of strategic planning, content and event production, marketing and branding and community building and management for its alumni network “Israel’s Liberal Voice” (ILV). The service provider needs to promote the network to a growing audience, through interesting activities and programs such as a podcast series, organizing and moderating discussions for the existing network, the same as events for a group of young applicants and a weekend seminar.
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Request for Proposal: Research and Conference on East Jerusalem
The Jerusalem office of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF Jerusalem) needs a service provider to conduct academic research and policy papers analyzing municipal issues and contested political, social and economic challenges existing in Jerusalem, the same as organizing bilateral meetings, a social media campaign and a public conference on developments in East Jerusalem.
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Requests For Proposal
In order to conduct our projects in 2023, the Jerusalem Office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom requires proposals from potential service providers and partners. Please contact us if you want to apply for any of the following.
Please send in proposals until February 24th, 2023 -
Request for Proposal: Coordinator for our Bilateral Forums - ME 2.0 & TICSF
The Jerusalem office of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF Jerusalem) needs a coordinator that can coordinate, manage and moderate two projects of FNF, namely the MIDDLE EAST 2.0 –Palestinian Israeli Young Business Leaders Forum (ME 2.0 Forum) and the Turkish-Israeli Civil Society Forum (TICSF).
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Request for Proposal: LGBTQ+ Podcast Series
The Jerusalem office of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF Jerusalem) is looking for a service provider to produce a podcast series on LGBT+ communities around the globe in English and Hebrew. In the last decades we could witness improvements regarding the social and legal status of LGBTQ+ communities.
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Jerusalem Office is Hiring
FNF is a creative innovation platform of freedom for society, and its mission is to appeal to specific target audiences interested in liberal solutions who share the core values of the foundation. FNF advises, inspires, and motivates leaders in society, and it creates, builds, and promotes subjects of freedom for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Looking forward to 2023, we are looking to fill three positions in our diverse Jerusalem team.
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The Completion of Israel’s transition to a “Two Bloc System”
Israeli elections are right around the corner, and millions of Israelis are going to vote again on November 1, for the fifth time in three years. Since the Israeli Knesset dissolved on June 30, 2022, little has changed on the Israeli political map. There are still two main blocs, PM Lapid’s diverse liberal “center-left” coalition and former PM Netanyahu’s religious far-right opposition. This “Two Bloc System” is still being challenged by Minister of Defense Benny Gantz, who offers an alternative government that includes parties from both blocs.
Social Media
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Within our joint project “Innov8” with Flow Accelerator , the first community event called “Team Up” was conducted on the spirit of collaboration and innovation among organizations’ team members. Through ice-breakers and interactive sessions, participants learnt the true meaning of bonding, communication, open dialogue and essentials of trust within teams. https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0BzttnMihTcfmpR3KXs1nPUcC66M92L7fwjK8Lf16yGJzZDUC7ayZvkHdH9WYzdTml&id=100063776610468&mibextid=Nif5oz
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We are happy to support our partner, The Palestinian Youth Forum for Freedom and Democracy (PYFD) with their youth conference on "International Youth Day…Our Palestinian Youth…Reality and Challenges". Members of PYFD, experts, researchers and interested individuals in youth issues as well as young activists from various governorates took part in this conference. In the opening session, several official speakers addressed the audience; including Dr. Laila Ghannam, Governor of Ramallah and Al-Bireh along with representatives from Sharek Youth Forum and the National Democratic Institute. They emphasized that this annual conference coincided with the International Youth Day, and they asserted the importance of the youth's role in assuming the responsibilities of the forthcoming stage at the political, economic, social, and psychological levels. They also called for providing more opportunities for the youth and involving them in decision-making; while emphasizing that change begins with the youth themselves. In an open space format, the participants discussed the opportunities, challenges, future trends, as well as the suggested solutions for the four main topics addressed during the conference which are political participation, education, economy and arts & culture.
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Our partner the Palestinian Youth Forum for Freedom and Democracy (PYFD) conducted a training on “Content Management system for journalism” at the Palestine Polytechnic University in Hebron. The training was attended by members of PYFD, university students and graduates along with activists from Hebron . It aimed at empowering the young people on how to write media content using mobile phones, along with practical exercise on the topic.
